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Get ready to rock your brand, your talk, and your biz! I’m Kristin Thompson. Welcome to the Rise Formula. Let’s get started with Session 1: Up Level Your Brand to Upgrade Your Income
What’s a brand, anyway?
The brand is what people are saying about you when you’re not in the room. Aaah! (Cue the shrieking.) The worst thing in the world that could happen when you leave the room is – pop quiz, right out of the gate in session one – nothing. (Cue the crickets.)
Imagine walking out of the room – this is happening to people all over – and nothing’s happening. Nobody’s talking about you; nobody’s remembering you; nobody can repeat what you do. These are problems and they’re happening all across America to brilliant, smart, talented entrepreneurs.
One of the keys to a stand-out brand is how you can create a persona and a business that really helps you pop in a crowded marketplace. More importantly than just popping for the sake of standing out or being weird to stand out (because I’m not advocating that), but the worst thing in the world is that you blend in and that you’re not memorable. Let’s talk about the cures to that.
The keys to a stand-out brand are these:
Simple
It’s got to be simple, meaning when people look at your website, they look at your logo, they look at you, and they can quickly get what you’re about. It’s got to be simple.
Unique
It cannot look, sound, and feel like every other Yahoo out there.
Polarizing
Here’s where a lot of you are going wrong. So many times we’re trying to be likable. We’re trying to be palatable to so many people that it’s just blah. I was going to say “vanilla,” but I happen to really like vanilla, so I don’t want to put vanilla down. When you’re not polarizing, you’re kind of placating everybody. You’re trying to be nice to everybody and be likable and palatable to everybody and then you just end up saying nothing.
So if you’re not pissing a few people off, you’re doing something wrong. Throw your hat in the ring. Make a statement. Take a stand for something. Get polarizing.
We talk about each of these steps in our coaching programs in greater depth. but just a quick tip right here, and one way to do that, is to ask yourself: how are you different or how do you view your topic differently than your competitors, the marketplace, or the traditional version of what you do? Do you have a new take? Are you cutting edge? Or is everybody cutting edge and they’ve forgotten the good old-fashioned way of doing it? How do you roll a little differently?
It might just be that a little teeny-tiny, eensy-weensy piece of what you do is different. That’s fine, too. Find any little difference and exploit it. Shout it from the mountain tops. Be polarizing.
Be Repeatable
You’ve got to be repeatable. This is the fourth key to a stand-out brand. A big, big, big mistake I see people making on this step is if having these really complicated long messages that nobody can repeat. You’ve got to have those writer-downers.
- I’m Kristin “Rock Your Talk” Thompson. A lot of people repeat that phrase.
- Command Any Room
- Rock Your Brand
- Rock Your Biz
These are all little phrases I’ve come up with partially because they’re catchy and they’re good, if I do say so myself, but they’re repeatable so it’s easy for people to remember. “Hey, there’s Kristen! That’s the Rock Your Talk girl.” It’s easy to remember, and that’s the next one.
Be Memorable
Part of that is having something that somebody could actually repeat. Part of that is just how you show up. When you’re polarizing, when you have a simple message, when you come up with something that’s repeatable, you automatically – by doing the rest of these steps well – become more memorable.
Be Consistent
We’re going to talk about this when we talk about your system and your talk. When we talk about rocking your talk, I’m going to really be hammering this home. Consistency is king with your brand. If you’re constantly changing your message and your this and your that, nobody ever knows who you are and what you do. You can’t become known. Let’s talk about that.
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Uncover Your Brand Personality
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Brand personality is the thing that you want to become known for – that’s one part of it. What you’re known for is your expertise. You want to be able to answer succinctly when people say, “What do you do?” The answer is really what you’re known for. It’s like how you help your clients and the results you help people get.
I might say,
“Hey, I’m Kristin Thompson. I’m really known for helping entrepreneurs turn their mission and their message into a rockin’ talk and system that generates a multiple six-figure business on their own terms.” That’s what I’m known for.
The second part to your brand personality is what you’re known as. That’s more of the personality piece. I’m really into helping my clients figure this part out because it’s a piece that gets skipped and it’s one of the reasons why certain people “catch fire” as I call it. Certain people catch fire and certain people don’t.
The next piece you want to figure out is your brand personality archetype. We all have one. At the Rise Live Event and in our coaching programs, we actually go deep into the archetypes and help you figure out which one you are. But here’s a quick way to think about it.
There is a certain personality that is just your natural personality, how you really are in the real world. There are certain facets of that personality that your clients need you to be. In other words – yes, I’m a mother, a wife, a woman, and a daughter. There are a lot of different roles that I play in the world in addition to being an entrepreneur and a leader in my industry, but there are certain parts that my clients need me to be.
When I’m up on stage and I’m rocking a 60-minute talk at a conference or an event, they don’t need me to be mommy, making sure everybody has their blankie and their snack. That’s not who you need me to be. You need me to be Rock-n-Roll Kristen. You need me to be the person who can entertain and educate, so that’s who I bring to the table.
That is my natural personality. I love music. I always have. I love rocking out. I love having a kick-ass fun time. I like telling jokes. That persona is certain facets of my actual personality that I magnify and bring forward for my business.
That’s what you want to do, too. You absolutely don’t need your personality in business to be a put-on, a costume, a fake. You don’t need to start cursing if you don’t curse and you don’t need to stop cursing if you do curse. You don’t need to suddenly be professional, slick, and wear a suit if that’s not your vibe. And if it is, then rock it to the hilt. Get that slick Armani suit or whatever makes you feel hot and powerful. You’ve got to rock it to the hilt.
Everybody has their own unique personality from really outgoing and entertaining to maybe tough, kind of edgy, in-your-face. Maybe it’s soft and feminine and it is a little bit more the motherly caring. Maybe that’s your natural way that you teach. There is no right or wrong, but you’ve got to figure out that right piece of your personality to bring forward. You need to really package that and consciously promote it to people.
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Naming Things
Keep your brand in mind when you’re naming your URL, your business, a product, a program, or a call that you’re going to lead. Make sure it’s catchy, easy to remember, and on brand. Make sure that it clearly gives people an idea of what you do and how you help. It’s super important to keep that in mind when you name things.
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The Look
As I look at your website – what you wear (your personal style), your business cards, your e-mail signature, your newsletter, your blog; when I call your office – the way you answer the phone and your phone message…ugh! If I call your office and I get that computerized lady telling me that you are “currently unavailable…Beep!” I’m going to grab you through the computer somehow through magic and smack your hand. We’ve got to hear your personality and you have to show that in the look and feel of how I interact with your business. That has to show up there.
One thing you could do right now is just take a little peek at your website. Look at the color choices, the fonts, and the words. Is it matched and aligned with your true personality?
When I first tried to start my own company, it was “Thompson Professional Development.” Super geeky. Well, it wasn’t – it was just really boring. It was navy and white. It had stock photos. It was just me trying to be what I thought I was supposed to be. I looked at it one day and I thought, “There is no part of me on this website. If I look at this website, I don’t see me. I don’t see it in the pictures, the colors, the words – nothing.” So I threw it out.
That is when Speak Serve Grow was born. That is when I finally crossed six figures and went in two-and-a-half years from basically nothing, floundering around $30,000-40,000 and catapulted up to six figures, then from over six figures to $175,000 to $500,000 in sales last year. It all came from unlocking these seven steps and this was the first piece of that.
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Brand Differentiators
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The last thing I want to talk about is brand differentiators. How do you really stand out? We talked a little bit in the beginning about your brand and ways to pop. But in terms of the way your business is structured, there are some specific things that you can do to start to pull away from the rest of the competition:
- The way you price your program
Look at your pricing. It can be that you are the most affordable person in the market. It could be that you’re the most premiere luxury version of what you offer in the market. There’s no right or wrong, but pick a place and go there with your pricing.
- Depth of content
Maybe you offer the most comprehensive version of some sort of training or consulting that you do or coaching. Maybe you’re really focused – so it’s one topic, super detailed. Those are two different directions to go with depth.
- Flavor and vibe
A lot of people teach speaking, but nobody really teaches it the way that I do. That’s a vibe/flavor thing.
- Service
What type of customer service do you provide? Is it personal and luxury? Or is it fast and easy access? What’s the vibe of your service? What’s the level of access that people have to you? The really cool thing when you’re just starting out is that’s a great way to differentiate yourself – give more of you than people who have already surpassed you can afford to give. The bigger you get, the harder it is to give of your time. So when you’re starting out, giving people lots of access to you is a way to stand out. You don’t want to go overboard, but it is a way you can stand out.
- Platforms
The platforms that you get seen on can help you differentiate yourself. Maybe you go online when most people in your industry are off. Maybe you go offline when everybody’s hanging out on. Zig when everybody’s zagging.
- Niche
The niche that you focus on and, as we talked about earlier, your take on this. Don’t be afraid to be polarizing to have a really unique take on your topic industry and the services you provide. That is part of what helps you stand out.
I know I’ve been ripping and rocking and we’ve got lots more coming your way. This was a quick jumpstart to help you start rocking your brand.
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